I was approached by a city park manager and when I told him I didn't dig holes he told me he didn't even want me to poke a hole (with my icepick size screwdriver) in his park! I then told him I was covering up the holes the squirrels made and I would be glad to come back and take them home for squirrel stew. He mumbled something and walked away. So far I haven't seen him again and the mowing crew hasn't bothered me.

Quoteslingshot
I was approached by a city park manager and when I told him I didn't dig holes he told me he didn't even want me to poke a hole (with my icepick size screwdriver) in his park! I then told him I was covering up the holes the squirrels made and I would be glad to come back and take them home for squirrel stew. He mumbled something and walked away. So far I haven't seen him again and the mowing crew hasn't bothered me.

Tsk tsk tsk. You got told point blank, by a "power-that-be", that you weren't even supposed to poke the ground. Eh ? Yet you go back and continue md'ing and poking anyhow ? The fact that no one else cares, except for that one lone individual, doesn't matter. It's your duty to turn over heaven and earth and get that one lone manager to love & adore you. Tsk tsk, what's the world coming to ? Next thing you know, you'll be robbing banks, clubbing baby seals, etc....

I was approached by a city park manager and when I told him I didn't dig holes he told me he didn't even want me to poke a hole (with my icepick size screwdriver) in his park! I then told him I was covering up the holes the squirrels made and I would be glad to come back and take them home for squirrel stew. He mumbled something and walked away. So far I haven't seen him again and the mowing crew hasn't bothered me.

Tsk tsk tsk. You got told point blank, by a "power-that-be", that you weren't even supposed to poke the ground. Eh ? Yet you go back and continue md'ing and poking anyhow ? The fact that no one else cares, except for that one lone individual, doesn't matter. It's your duty to turn over heaven and earth and get that one lone manager to love & adore you. Tsk tsk, what's the world coming to ? Next thing you know, you'll be robbing banks, clubbing baby seals, etc....

I think he was a temporary employee filling in- I've searched there nearly 50 years. Seems he was trying for trophy points- judging from the workers' facial expressions. I'm 71 and I've worked and fought to keep careless mder's from defacing property, called police and school officials on pranksters at school, etc. and I feel for the next generation. I even followed a thankless searcher in my former club- covering his holes to chide him- maybe I should say he was shameless. A youngster probably couldn't get away with my gruffness-but who's gonna argue with a helpless lil' ol' man who is careful to the limit. I carry a LITTLE weight in the community as a responsible person and I want to have a voice. FWIW, I went to the wood chip tot lot where no recovery tools were needed to satisfy him.

Well a little common sense can save what Public spots You have open to Detecting.
Once again I am talking 'Public' property. Hunt alone and don't carry a shovel. We had a bunch of clowns doing 'buddy' hunts 5-6 at a time with Shovels that got most are Public spots closed. They say I am a finger pointer. Ha! Think about it for a minute. A Busy body sees a group of Guys digging with Shovels No matter how neat they are She will report it. I don't see why a lot of today's hunters can't figure that out? This use too be a small cult like Hobby but unfortunately YouTube and Dectecting shows put us on the radar. So number one don't drawn attention to Yourself. It seems hard for some today to understand that. I know they like to show off and tell everything they know but this is not the Hobby for that.

When doing turf, I agree: No more than 2 hunters. Otherwise, if you put 5 guys in the same grassy area, all swinging detectors, some busy-body is going to ask themselves " Gee, what are they doing ?"

We had this happen here, and learned the hard way : There was/is a certain part of a large park in San Francisco, that's just always ever been detected. No problem (assuming you weren't being a nuisance). So one day, we decided as a club to go there with a whole large group. There were 12 or 15 of us down there in this meadow. Hey, after all, it's not dis-allowed, right ?

We started at the crack of dawn, when it was fairly deserted, so no problem. But as the morning wore on, and park goers began their morning walks around/in the park, you could just SEE them stopping, gawking, etc... As if to wonder "gee what's going on?" and "Gee, what are they looking for ?".

At a certain point, I stopped and went out to the street to my truck. To change out a battery pack. At that exact moment, a cop on horseback came sauntering by. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him stopping to take in the spectacle. But.... at first ... he just kept on going. Finally though, he came to an exact stop. I could see the "wheels in his head turning". He turns his horse to the side, and walks it down to the first md'r of our group. Saying "You guys can't be doing this" blah blah.

See how that psychology works ? A single (or two) md'rs are utterly ignored and un-noticed. But the moment you put 5, 10, or 15 in the same semi-close confined zones, someone's going to make a gripe , and assume you're doing something wrong. EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY SPECIFIC RULE. They can just allude to "alter" or "deface" or "remove" type verbiage.

So this hobby is a bit like nose-picking: Requires a little discretion and common sense of timing.

And to expand the analogy further: If a single person or two stands in the park, picking his nose, he will be totally ignored. But if 15 nose-pickers stood in a formation line, all picking their noses, then someone is sure to say this requires a "parade permit". Or that it violates laws against "annoyances".

So notice how 1) Nose-picking (like md'ing) is not dis-allowed. 2) Nose picking, like md'ing, has "connotations" that not everyone on earth will like. 3) a single nose-picker is totally ignored and not noticed. But 4) when too many people do it in a single confined acreage, ONLY THEN do passing people stop to wonder "gee what's this all about?" and "Gee is that allowed" ?

QuoteTom_in_CA
And to expand the analogy further: If a single person or two stands in the park, picking his nose, he will be totally ignored. But if 15 nose-pickers stood in a formation line, all picking their noses, then someone is sure to say this requires a "parade permit". Or that it violates laws against "annoyances".

So notice how 1) Nose-picking (like md'ing) is not dis-allowed. 2) Nose picking, like md'ing, has "connotations" that not everyone on earth will like. 3) a single nose-picker is totally ignored and not noticed. But 4) when too many people do it in a single confined acreage, ONLY THEN do passing people stop to wonder "gee what's this all about?" and "Gee is that allowed" ?

Well, there would be concern there for a haunted park with all the boogers around!

Orange County Florida, just down the road from Ocala requires a permit to metal detect in a county park. The permit is free and they provide you a list of the parks and those very few where you cannot detect. They also explain why you may not detect at certain parks. I have been detecting the county parks and have found the park employees to be friendly and even offer advice on spots that may be good to hunt. I have no problem with the permit and think the system they have works good. You know the rules upfront as they provide you a list of rules, follow them and have fun. Better than a total ban.

Quotehunt2day
Orange County Florida, just down the road from Ocala requires a permit to metal detect in a county park. The permit is free and they provide you a list of the parks and those very few where you cannot detect. They also explain why you may not detect at certain parks. I have been detecting the county parks and have found the park employees to be friendly and even offer advice on spots that may be good to hunt. I have no problem with the permit and think the system they have works good. You know the rules upfront as they provide you a list of rules, follow them and have fun. Better than a total ban.

Wow! Working WITH the citizens instead of marking them all because of a few bad apples. THAT'S the American way!! I'd go for that! Would both create harmony AND weed out abusers!

Quoteslingshot .... Wow! Working WITH the citizens instead of marking them all because of a few bad apples. THAT'S the American way!! I'd go for that! Would both create harmony ......

Slingshot, this is the common image whenever someone posts about any place that dreamed up and implemented "permits". Eh ? It evokes images of being able to detect nilly-willy carte-blanche. With no uncertainty on whether someone might gripe, etc.... Right ? So "permits" are therefore often seen as a "good" thing and "harmony", and "desirable". Right ?

But look closer at places that have ever had "permits", and you will begin to see the devil in the details. Often times they are riddled with silly rules. Like "not within 20 ft. of any tree", or "digger tool shall not exceed 3" length". Or "turn in all valuables to the park office". Or "yes but you can't dig". Or "on sandy beaches only", etc.....

And worse yet: A lot of places that ever dreamed up "permits", simply revoke the system a few years later. Why ? Because it's perpetually something on their radar that they need to think about each year. And sure as heck, one year someone in a meeting will say "Gee, do we really want all these yahoos out there digging up the park ?" Or some archie gets his panties in a wad and says "Gee, do we really want these guys digging up our past ? " And then the system just gets revoked altogether.

So it's much better that there is neither an express allowance or dis-allowance. Better that it's simply not addressed either way, and silent on the subject. So that it's not something regulated by them, and subject to future cancellation and silly rules. If it's silent on the subject, then presto: Not disallowed.